Another Cinderella.

Please forgive me for two "before and afters" in a row. Sometimes I just can't resist telling a good Cinderella story (the kind where Cinderella does NOT have to watch her coach turn back into a pumpkin and go back to scrubbing floors for a few days until the prince gets his head on straight). So blame it on the early spring weather, or my new found infatuation with babies (particularly my baby love Mae Elizabeth), but new beginnings are enticing to me right now so here we go!

This story is about a desk chair. There are some items that not a single person wants. Even my mom whose taste and vision I trust implicitly turned her nose up at this little beauty. Rusted and covered in torn vinyl, this little gem called to me from under a shade tree at an estate auction. 

My mom and I were on a mission, we were not deterred even when we had to break out my dad's super detailed atlas to find the farm where this auction was taking place down miles of gravel field roads. It was worth the drive, obviously too many people were hoping their GPS would get them there and thus lost hope after the first turn off of the blacktop.

What we discovered upon our arrival was a massive collection of furniture that I can only assume apparated into this little farm house from some magical world (no furniture truck could have possibly made a delivery!). Behind the throngs of beautiful things in a forgotten pile of lawn ornaments and random crap out of the barn was this desk chair.

 
I was drawn to its swivel base (I am a sucker for a good swivel chair) and the clean and modern lines. I was not drawn to the linoleum like substance covering it, gross!

 


Unfortunately, I did not take a good "before" picture. I was so excited to get going on the project I had already started taking it apart before I got out the camera. None-the-less, you can get an idea of the sad sad state our little Cinderella arrived in.

In this fairy tale I think of myself as the awesome fairy godmother, seeing the happy ending for this downtrodden little chair and taking it upon myself to step in and help out! Unfortunately I had to toss aside my beautiful magic wand in favor of pliers, steel wool, some spray adhesive, a sewing machine and a remnant of Amy Butler fabric (thank you again Needle Shop). 

 

Magic wand or not, I feel the results are fairly impressive. I see this chair in my office every day. It is a sturdy, swively wonderful chair. I love it and am so glad that I was able to step in and give it a second lifetime to live. 

This desk chair is available at my etsy store.  Mansion House Road. 

Zebra. Is. Good?

It is time for me to tell you one of my favorite stories.  This story began with an idea.....

"I really want a zebra chair" my dear friend Halli said to me one day.  "I think that would really complete my living room".

I was skeptical (zebra??  really?? hmmm....), but as I am not a girl who backs down from a challenge I said "ok, what kind of chair are we looking for".

"I don't know, but I'll know it when I see it" she answered.  

And so began our epic journey of zebra chair hunting.  We hunted everywhere, salvation armies to antique stores.  We even looked at new chairs at furniture stores, we considered chairs from every era in the history of chairmaking until finally...

One fine day at the Thrift and Dollar in Aurora IL we discovered this lost, abandoned, and hideously ugly speckled wood and gold crushed velvet hunk of a chair.

A few things about this chair stood out through the disgusting hideousness that encompasses many 1970s era items.  First, it was perfectly sturdy, no structural problems at all.  I was impressed with the general shape, it had presence but was not overbearing.  I also really liked the X details in the arms.  Finally, I was pretty sure that the chair was walnut and thus would have good staining potential.

Now, the Thrift and Dollar is not always true to its name and sometimes I find it to be slightly overpriced (lets be serious this was an ugly chair).  So my friend Halli had to do a little talking (luckily she is a frequent buyer and has made some friends) and we managed to walk away with the chair for $25.

A few weeks before the fateful trip to thrift and dollar I had discovered a remnant of perfect zebra fabric at The Needle Shop in Chicago http://www.theneedleshop.net/.


The fabric is by Alexander Henry and can be purchased here http://www.etsy.com/listing/83715345/alexander-henry-fabric-zebe-black-home if you are interested.  

Before the "fun with zebra fabric" could begin, I had to strip the chair down to nothing.  The horrible speckled finish on the solid walnut frame was absolutely depressing.  In order acheive the final look I mixed two minwax stains (Walnut and Ebony) before rubbing on a few coats.  The walnut wood of the chair took the stain very well and the color is perfect with the fabric.

We decided to scratch the deeply button tufted seat back in favor of a more modern softly tufted design.






The end product is proof that two wrongs:
1. decorating with zebra.
2. crushed velvet anything
Truly can make a right!!

This chair is everything a zebra chair should be! timeless, classic, and gorgeous.

See more of my work at Mansion House Road on Etsy. 

Couch Update

It has been a while since I mentioned my old friend.... The Couch.  This corner trash pile find is starting to look like it has been given a new chance at life. 

It took a long time to find the fabric.  Eventually I chose a light blue with a very heavy weave.  I think the solid color and helps keep the focus on the fantastic shape of the couch while the heavy texture adds richness to the otherwise plain fabric.   


I am having a mental block about what to do with the trim.  I want a contrasting trim to highlight the shape and wood and also to keep the couch looking young and fresh.  I have been toying with a few ideas but nothing has really popped yet.  The picture to the left shows my most recent first place pattern.  

It is leftover fabric from a pair of these chairs which I recovered a few years ago.  Pretty amazing! 

Still, I am not convinced it is the right idea for the couch.  If I learned anything from the red chair that I recently featured, inspiration is worth waiting for if you want a really incredible final product. 

I feel like the right trim will really make this couch a unique showpiece and I can't wait to show you the final product when it happens.